Daily Best Bets

1) “After Jackie,” 8-10 p.m., History. Yes, Jackie Robinson (shown here) transformed baseball by breaking its color barrier. But it was 12 more years before every team was integrated … and 16 years after that before the first Black manager. This richly detailed film views three greats – Bill White, Curt Flood and Bob Gibson – at the St. Louis Cardinals. Facing segregated housing (in spring training) and a bigoted manger, they prevailed, winning two World Series titles. Read more…

1) Watergate documentaries, 6 p.m. to midnight, History; 9-11 p.m., CBS. It was 50 years ago today that five men were arrested for a break-in at Democratic headquarters in the Watergate complex. The cover-up and investigation brought the end (shown here) of the Nixon presidency. Now CBS has a new documentary and History repeats its film by Oscar-winner Charles Ferguson. Both interview reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. CBS has past interviews with Nixon, John Dean and H.R, Haldeman; History has Dean, John McCain, Dan Rather and more. Read more…

1) “The Old Man” openers (shown here), 10 and 11:30 p.m., FX. For the first 15 minutes, you might be tempted to switch away. Don’t;; a strong drama – tough, intense, richly crafted – is waiting on the other side. In those early minutes, we see a solemn widower (Jeff Bridges), with his two dogs and memories of his wife’s descent into Alzheimer’s. He talks to his daughter on the phone, digs tin cans out of the garbage and seems a bit daft. Just stick with it; a compelling, seven-part adventure is coming, with great work from Bridges, John Lithgow and more. Read more…

1) “So You Think You Can Dance,” 9 p.m., Fox. The 300th episode of this oft-excellent series (shown here in a previous episode) marks a changeover. The try-outs are finished and 12 contestants move to a TV studio – a big step for a show that missed two summers during the pandemic. And there’s a new judge: Matthew Morrison was ousted, reportedly for sending a note to one of the contestants. Taking over is Leah Remini, a popular actress (“The King of Queens”), also known for strident documentaries opposing scientology. She joins JoJo Siwa and Stephen (tWitch) Boss. Read more…

1) “Mayans M.C.” season-finale, 10 p.m., FX, rerunning at 11:43 p.m. and 1:27 a.m. A passionate season concludes fiercely, Last week, Galindo returned, showed a warehouse filled with heroin and asked the bikers to be his dealers. Now EZ (shown here, left) faces that … and a murder attempt … and a former prison colleague who knows his secrets Galindo’s wife, on the run, learns her son has been kidnapped and her sister has been killed. There’s much more, in a great episode that starts with Coco’s funeral and ends with a jolt — and a mystery for next year. Read more…

1) “Beat Shazam,” 9 p.m., Fox. It’s “daddy daughter night,” which fits this show. Jamie Foxx hosts, with his daughter Corinne, 28, as the DJ. (They’re shown here.) Now here’s an episode in which similar duos are the contestants. That follows another music-based show, with Niecy Nash hosting “Don’t Forget the Lyrics” at 8. Read more…

1) Tony Awards, 8-11 p.m. ET, CBS. For the first time in three years, here’s a full-scale Tonycast, with glimpses of Broadway’s best. There will be performances from all six nominated musicals and from two of the nominated revivals,. That includes the music of Stephen Sondheim (“Company,” shown here),, Michael Jackson, Bob Dylan and more, performed by Hugh Jackman, Sutton Foster, Billy Crystal and others. Ariana DeBose, the “West Side Story” Oscar-winner, hosts; other performers include Billy Porter, Bernadette Peters, the New York Gay Men’s Chorus and the original cast of “Spring Awakening.” Read more…

1) Despicable Me 3” (2017), 8-10 p.m., NBC. This seems to be family-movie day, celebrating the end of the school year. Even NBC, which rarely has movies, offers this animated film (shown here), setting up “Despicable Me 4,” in theaters next month. There’s more animation on Freeform, with “Up” at 4:30 p.m., “Princess and the Frog” at 6:40 and “Wall-E” at 11:50; that’s broken up by a lesser film, “Aladdin” – the so-so, non-cartoon version from 2019 – at 8:45. Also, the ultimate all-ages masterpiece, “ET” (1982), is on Syfy, at 1, 3:30, 6 and 8:30 p.m. Read more…

1) “The Wizard of Oz” (1939),” 8 p.m., ET Turner Classic Movies. On the 100th anniversary of her birth, we get some of Judy Garland’s best films. That peaks with “Oz” (shown here), which the American Film Institute puts at No. 10 on its all-time list. it’s followed at 10 ET by an “Oz” documentary by Jack Haley Jr. (Garland’s former son-in-law) and at 11 by “Meet Me in St. Louis” (1944), the radiant musical directed by her husband-to-be, Vincente Minnelli. There’s more in the daytime, leading to the popular “In the Good Old Summertime” (1949) at 6. Read more…

1) “Ghosts,” 9 p.m., CBS. Two first-year comedies – ABC’s “Abbott Elementary” and CBS’ “Ghosts” – managed to be ratings successes this yer. Now CBS has declared the “Summer of Ghosts.” It will have odd events around the country and, mid-summer, a 3-D internet experience. And it has reruns, starting with one of the better (and more-recent) ones. Trevor (shown here, far right) is the self-centered stockbroker who died wearing a suitcoat … but no pants. This episode tells us what happened; it also suggests that Trevor may not be a complete jerk, after all. Read more…